


Shields & Swords

by TheRealGalwayGirl



Series: This Adventure of a Lifetime [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU immediately after Age of Ultron, Alternative Universe – The Captains, Composite Characters, Gen, How do I tag again, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I have no idea how I got here, Miss. America/Supergirl fusion, Obscure comic book references, because I like the speedsters, because they are literally almost the same person, except Pietro lives, incorrect comic book references, stop killing the speedsters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 16:16:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21121655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealGalwayGirl/pseuds/TheRealGalwayGirl
Summary: After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the destruction of Novi Grad; Steve, Sam and Natasha set out to find the Winter Soldier. Except they aren’t the only ones looking for the infamous Hydra assassin. After a chance encounter with one of them, Steve discovers that perhaps he isn’t the only self-sacrificing super-soldier looking to save the world.The first part of my series, This Adventure of a LifetimeRated for language and sexual references in later chapters.





	Shields & Swords

The circular room was well lit, but not blindingly as officers dragged a man inside. It was bare, pale grey walls and a dark green carpet. A comfortable size, if not almost too large for its purpose. In the centre was a single chair facing four tall stools. Armed guards watched the scene intently from the sides. The man in chains was seated in the lone chair, chained down. Colonel Helmut Zemo had captured several days before by S.W.O.R.D. just hours after his arrest warrant had been signed. It was almost comical to the agents who had brought him in just how easy it had been to subdue the mad man. Now, they’d learned just how valuable their newest prisoner was to them, S.W.O.R.D.’s directors it was time to ask the Colonel some questions.

The man in the chair spat at them. “You think you can contain me!” He screamed at the four people seated on the stools.

“Yes,” Ingvar S. Langager replied easily, confident in the security of the room. He was one of the four Directors of S.W.O.R.D., an organisation they founded many years prior to covertly assist both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Interpol.

Beside him, fellow director Abigail Brand was narrowing in on their target. “Colonel Zemo. Your father would be so disappointed in you.”

“He’s dead.” Zemo shrugged indifferently. “Why should I care about the thoughts of a dead man?”

“He was a good man,” Langager rose an eyebrow as he continued. “One might think his legacy would inspire you to do better. At least, not this.”

“You aligned yourself with Hydra, planning to use Sargent Barnes to activate more Winter Soldiers?” Brand stated, all but glaring at the man in front of her. She was positively seething inside, wondering what the Earth’s mightiest heroes had done to deserve the hatred of this lunatic.

Colonel Zemo scoffed, “They are but perfect machines, able to kill and do so effectively. Hydra has deemed them unstable for too long but with my help, they will be able to control them again.”

“And why only now? Is it because of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Or Sargent Barnes’s escape?” Langager asked curiously.

“A mix… and more.” The Colonel admitted hesitantly. “The time to strike is nearing, so Hydra is gathering all the resources it needs.”

“And one of those resources is the Winter Soldier?” Asked the honey sweet voice of Xavier Xiaru. “What exactly does Hydra have planned for the Asset? What mission is so essential that they need the Asset this desperately?”

“To destroy the U.N. as they meet to discuss the Sokovia Accords,” Zemo answered simply, completely giving away Hydra’s plans. “If ol’ Bucky does the bombing, then that pushes the Sokovia Accords into the limelight. And it will drive a wedge between the Avengers. United they stand but divided, they will most certainly fall.”

“Sargent Barnes is Captain America’s oldest living friend.” Brand reasoned logically, trying to get a better understanding of Hydra’s plans. “Who better to use?”

“He is the only Asset that still complies,” the Colonel admitted bitterly.

“There are more Assets?” Langager asked, aware of a revival of the Winter Soldier program but unaware of its outcomes. The Colonel nodded.

“And these Winter Soldiers, why does Hydra need more? If they need the Asset back to bomb the U.N., why would they need more?”

“General Lukin simply offered an exchange of my abilities to control the Winter Soldiers in exchange for the use of the Asset against the Avengers,” The Colonel replied. “Hydra already has them, they just cannot use them.”

“General Lukin?” Xiaru sounded almost surprised by the mention of the general. “Aleksander Lukin has not been seen or heard since the collapse of the Soviet Union twenty-three years ago? Should he not be dead?”

“Hard to die when you are immortal?” Zemo shot back, fully aware of the long lives lived by the directors before him.

“Unlike Madame Hydra?” Langager countered, aware of the Contessa’s failing health over the years. While she’d been a formidable opponent in her prime, age had confined her to her iron throne of late. “What exactly does General Lukin have to do with Hydra and the Winter Soldier? Was he not a part of the KGB?”

“He was. The General inherited the Winter Soldier project from General Karpov. When the USSR fell, he returned the Asset to its rightful owners.”

“And they let him remain in charge of the Asset and its missions?” Xiaru continued, hoping to clarify where the General’s allegiance truly lay.

“Yes. Madame Hydra saw the value in him, just as the General saw value in Alexander Pierce.” The man laughed maniacally. “Who is unfortunately dead!”

Xiaru smirked. “A pity, really.”

“You talk too easily.” Hannah Kostiner piped up. She was the quietest of the four Directors, preferring to use her ears and eyes to watch her subjects like a hawk. A former Mossad agent, she was the most skilled in the art of interrogation. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to talk some more.”

“I talk because you cannot stop me,” Zemo smiled grimly. “My plans are already in action. As you waste time talking, my associates hunt for the Asset. Soon, he will be back with Hydra and order will be achieved.”

“You sound confident?” Brand noted, an eyebrow raised in quiet amusement.

The smile Zemo gave the four was dark with grim satisfaction. “Because you cannot stop us. Hail Hydra.”

“We do have one last question.” Langager held up a hand. “Why are you doing all this? What did the Avengers ever do to you?”

“The Avengers destroyed my home. They stole my family from me.” The man admitted with a maniacal laugh. “What better revenge than to have them fight each other, and watch as they tear themselves apart?”

“You think the Avengers are responsible for Sokovia?” Brand questioned, knowing full well the events of that day were not entirely due to the Avengers.

“Stark created Ultron, did he not?” Zemo answered, his reasoning just in his mind. “Had the Avengers been able to eliminate him, my home would not be in ruins. My family would still be alive.”

Langager rose an eyebrow. “So, you’ve aligned yourself with Hydra to take down the Avengers?”

“Hydra fights for order, for peace. The Avengers stand in the way of that peace.” Zemo sounded confident as he answered them, as if certain of Hydra’s motives. “It just so happens that I have a personal vendetta against them.”

“Well, I’m sure Hydra is going to love that you have been telling us all this?” Kostiner drawled, not amused with how easily the man spewed potentially valuable information.

“If we cannot find the Asset, then the mission is lost. The other Winter Soldiers could still be reactivated and controlled, but none of them would have the impact that Barnes would.”

That piqued the interest of the four directors. “You can’t find the Asset?” Brand asked, amused at the turn of events.

Zemo simply shook his head. “He is gone. Not even the faintest whiff. He is long gone.” The Colonel repeated, convinced that Sargent Barnes had more than just disappeared.

“It appears we need to find the Winter Soldier before you can.” Xiaru rubbed his beard thoughtfully, watching the Colonel carefully.

“You won’t find him. No one can.” Zemo admitted through clenched teeth, smiling bitterly at the small victory.

“Don’t worry,” Kostiner smirked deviously, “we know a certain little blue girl.”

The look that Zemo gave the Israeli director was priceless.

## ***

Steve Rogers sighed as he looked up at the large Illawarra flame tree in the middle of the new Avengers compound. Just a week prior he and the others had been fighting an army of robots in a flying city. But now things were peaceful as the co-leader of the Avengers sketched the beautiful tree. He’d drawn it several times already this week, there was something about seeing the branches come to life on the page. To almost hear the wind rustle through the leaves. To feel it playing with his hair and tickling his cheek. It was soothing. Steve looked back down at the page as he added another branch. The tree wasn’t in season, its leaves as green as the soft grass below. But one day, Tony had promised, its leaves would burn like the sun. Steve didn’t know what kind of sun was red, but it would give him a chance to break out the watercolour set Bruce bought him for Christmas last year. Might even give the painting to the good doctor if it was decent enough. But for now, the Captain was content to simply sketch the tree, over and over until it came alive on the page. He sketched some more, adding two more branches to the right side and adding a rope swing to the left. There wasn’t a swing there yet, but Steve decided it looked nice. Might even add one to the real thing. One like the one he used to play on as a kid in Brooklyn. That’d be nice. A little bit of home, for all of them. The Captain didn’t know if his teammates had swings in their childhoods, but he’d seen children playing on them in this century. It was decided, he was going to add a swing to the tree. Maybe even two. No fun swinging alone. Two swings then, maybe even add a platform up the top so they could all sit in the tree. Could even have lunch up there. Okay, maybe he was going too far, but it was all in his head for now as he sketched the extra swing and platform into his paper tree.

Steve could hear footsteps as Natasha Romanoff plonked herself down beside him. Snatching his sketchbook from out of his hands, she sighed when she saw the drawing.

“Again? There are so many more trees around to draw,” she whined childishly, having wanted to see something different. “This must be, what, the eighth time you’ve drawn this one this week Steve. Why not draw one of the fruit trees? Or that rainforest tree that Pietro fell out of the other day You could even draw him falling out of it.” She suggested hopefully, giggling at the mental image.

“I’m not drawing Pietro falling out of a tree, Nat.” Cap sighed, shaking his head as he quickly made a failed grab for his sketchbook. “Besides, practice makes perfect.”

“Practice on something different.” The Black Widow shot back with a grin as she flipped through the pages.

“You’re just bored because Clint’s gone home for a while.”

“Am not.” She replied a little too quickly, sticking her tongue out at her fellow Avenger.

Cap scoffed. “Are too.”

“Am not.” She slapped his arm, not forcefully but enough to get her point across. “Besides. I can keep myself busy.”

“Yeah, but then who will crawl around in the ceiling with you?” Steve gave her a knowing look as the Black Widow quickly back pedalled.

“Steve, we’re never in the vents.” She frowned, accidentally proving his point as she corrected him. “That’s just dumb.”

“Oh really? Then why did Tony have some of them repaired only a week after we moved in because **someone** left bullet holes in them?”

“Sam, probably.” Natasha shot back quickly.

“Sam doesn’t have a gun that size.”

“It was Sam with my gun.”

“Nat, if it was Sam with your gun there’d be a lot more blood.” Steve rose an eyebrow. Nat had a thing about her weapons and anyone who even thought about touching them often wound up the victim of one of her pranks. She still hadn’t forgiven Wanda Maximoff for borrowing her jacket, even after pulling three different pranks on the poor teen. Sam would never hear the end of it if he’d touched her gun. Forget a prank, she’d probably kill him with it.

“_Anyway_.” She glared intently at the Captain as she purposefully changed the subject. “Have you had any luck finding Barnes yet?” She sighed as her friend shook his head. Tossing him a coin, she handed him his sketchbook back.

“Where is this from?” Steve didn’t recognise the silver coin. The giant number one in the middle didn’t help things either.

“Poland. Although they use the Euro now.” She shrugged indifferently, jumping up. “Pack your bags, I’ve dug up some information regarding a couple of old Hydra bases in and around Katowice that were used to contain the Winter Solider. They may give us a lead.”

Steve smiled up at her, “thanks, Nat.”

“You can thank me after we get your pretty soldier boy back.” The Black Widow stuck her tongue out at him, snatching her precious coin back. “Stark’s lending us one of his planes. We leave in two hours.”

“Plenty of time. Could almost run there myself,” Cap drawled teasingly as they moved towards the accommodation wing. “Is Sam coming too?”

She rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t keep him away if I tried.”

“Cool.” Was all Cap could say in reply.

## ***

Stark had lent them a quinjet he’d repossessed from S.H.I.E.L.D. after the trio had destroyed the organisation. The genius had built it, so he simply took it back and it wasn’t like anyone could stop him, as Natasha explained to a still confused Sam Wilson. En route, Nat’s sources had picked up on a Hydra base close to Katowice that had been used by the Winter Soldier’s handlers.

“Are you sure there’s going to be anything of use there?” Sam asked again, not wanting to waste time chasing ghosts. “Cause if he hasn’t been there in over five years, then it’s likely there wouldn’t be much of use.”

“There’s always useful things in Hydra bases, Sam,” Nat replied easily, her knowledge of Hydra far greater than the veteran’s. “Like the location of other bases; and if we’re lucky, we might just get to kick some Hydra butt.”

“Now you’re speaking my language.” The Falcon grinned cheerfully as the pair bumped fists.

Steve let his eyes drift closed as he lay on a cot in the back. He was grateful for how easily Sam had warmed up to the Avengers, and Nat especially. The pair had gotten on extremely well, enjoying teaming up during training to take down their mutual friend whenever Natasha and Clint weren’t filling everyone else with bullets and arrows. Now they were bickering loudly in the front about some video game Clint had left behind. The one with the plumber. Sam was demanding a rematch after Natasha had yet again stated she was the winner Which, technically, she was. The red-head enjoyed rubbing these things in, knowing it would get a rise of her fellow Avengers. Sam especially. He always hated losing.

When they finally arrived, the main building was vacant. The only sign of inhabitancy was a guard lying dead just outside the gate he’d stood no chance at guarding.

“Whoever did this was fast,” Romanoff stated calmly, inspecting the man’s cleanly broken neck. “Like, Quicksilver fast. And very strong. Look at the force that must have been used, it’s a clean break. He would have died instantly.” She looked up, inspecting the main building with a wide-eyed suspicion as she whispered quietly. “And it was recent.” The breeze answered her, noisily stirring up the trees as they moved the short distance across the grounds.

They entered the main building, the sight of Hydra agents suffering the same injuries scattered around sobering. One was collapsed to the side of a computer, clearly pushed aside as someone tried to access it. None of the others were working, physically destroyed. Probably in the altercation with whoever had attacked the base before them.

“It’s wreaked.” Nat tossed her hands up, having desperately tried to hack into it. “Whole place is bust. I can’t access anything.” A series of squiggles and lines suddenly displayed themselves on the screen.

“What is that?” Sam asked, leaning over to try and comprehend them.

“I don’t know,” she stated softly, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Kinda looks like Elvish.” Steve and Sam just stared at her blankly. “You know, from Lord of the Rings. It’s not Elvish, but…”

The strange font scrolled through for a few more minutes as Natasha recorded them for future reference and sending them to Tony. “I’ll see if he can’t decode them.” They were replaced by words.

“My angel is free?” Natasha frowned, reading the German aloud curiously.

“Who’s the angel?” Steve dared to ask, wondering what vendetta this individual had.

“I don’t know,” Nat repeated, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she tried every avenue she could think of to get into the computer.

“Nat, it’s busted.” Sam placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away. “We have more places to look.” He pointed out a large map on the side wall behind Cap. Dots marked the location of more bases. Two of them were burned out. So was the wall.

Steve poked his finger through one of the holes. “It’s clean through.”

“How did it not melt the whole wall?” Natasha questioned, not seeing anyway a heat source powerful enough to melt brick could do such fine damage. “To melt these bricks, you’d have to go incredibly hot. That heat would just melt the wall.”

“What if it was like a laser?”

“But why?”

“Uh hello, this is a Hydra base.” Nat snapped in frustration.

“What are the locations burned out?” Steve interrupted, a concern gnawing at his stomach.

Natasha paused, her lips pursing as she read the locations. “Lubin and Kielce. But there aren’t any Hydra bases around there.” She pointed out the north of Poland. “That’s where most of the bases are. Many are close to Warsaw. So why is down here burnt.” She poked the holes.

“My angel is free?” Steve repeated, coming up with a theory. “Whoever this angel is. Perhaps that’s where they have been. Or will be," he theorised thoughtfully before deciding, "let’s check Kielce first. It’s closer.”

It turned out Natasha was wrong. There were four facilities in and around Kielce. The first was an empty, completely abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. The farmhouse nearby was also abandoned, the derelict buildings looking ready to collapse at any moment.

“Yeah, I don’t wanna go in there,” Sam confessed as the trio of Avengers took in the sight of the building.

“I don’t think this place has anything,” Natasha admitted sourly as she double checked her sources. “But there is another base not too far from here. Twenty miles, tops.”

Steve pulled a face at her, having looked around at their surroundings in suspicion. “Let’s hope this one doesn’t, because I agree with Sam. This place is creepy.”

“It’s just an old Hydra base.” Nat tried encouragingly as she took a step forward.

***CRASH***

The Avengers jumped as a section of the old metal roof gave way, surrendering to the forces of gravity after years of rusting in the Polish elements.

“Okay, you win.” The agent threw up her hands, turning back towards the quinjet. “To the next one boys!”

The men exchanged a humoured glance as they followed her. “Always trust the black man’s instincts Nat.” Sam teased, earning a hard glare from her.

“I’d sooner trust Steve’s than yours. And we all know Steve has no instincts.”

“Wow Nat.” Steve laughed, almost insulted. “I have instincts. Like just yesterday, Tony put salt in my coffee, and I knew better than to drink it.”

“Steve, dear, that’s because Tony also put salt in his coffee too.” Nat reminded him, recalling the undignified screams that erupted from the genius as he spoiled his own coffee. “I’m sure you have instincts, they’re just terrible.”

Sam snorted, clearly amused.

“That funny huh?” Cap ribbed back as they took off for the short hop.

“Not at all Captain.” Falcon smiled teasingly as he took a seat beside Natasha. “It’s just amusing to think that Stark poisoned his own coffee. I thought he was a genius.”

“High intelligence, low wisdom.” Natasha pointed out, the trio laughing at her accurate assessment of their teammate. While there wasn’t anything that Tony Stark couldn’t do, he just sometimes didn’t know when to stop. “Oh, come on Cap. It’s true.”

“Doesn’t mean you should rub it in his face.” Steve pointed out, deciding that they’d had enough amusement at Tony’s expense.

“More like in his coffee.” The pair roared with laughter.

Natasha barely managing to calm down enough to land the jet in the clearing beside the well-built facility.

The second base appeared to have suffered the same fate as the first one. Fewer bodies though, as Sam pointed out. Just three in the main room, two more outside on guard duty. Squiggly lines filled the screen of the only working computer. The base was a dead end too.

“We’ve still got more places to search.” Steve shrugged hopefully as they took off.

Sam shrugged. “Or not. Where to next Nat?”

“Fifty miles northeast. I got another ping. About the same size as the first one.” She answered with a tired yawn. “Should have something.”

“Or not.” Falcon regretted his words from earlier as they arrived at yet another dead Hydra base.

“Damn it!” Natasha cursed wildly as the computers here also showed the squiggly lines. The agents here were long dead, killed in the same manner as the others. The only difference between this base and the last was a long distinct lack of bodies and electrical power. Like someone had come along and cleaned the place up. “We aren’t going to get anywhere at this rate!”

“Who is raiding these bases?” Sam asked aloud, a question they’d yet been able to answer. He was leaning up against a row of computers, all dead with a lack of power.

Steve looked around the control room in hopes of finding an answer. “And why?” He asked, grimly realising that they might not be the only ones with a vendetta against Hydra.

“Well whoever it is,” Nat piped up wearily. “They’re very good at what they do. I don’t even know if Tony and Jarvis could recover anything from these.”

“Did you use your manners?” Sam asked, remembering an incident earlier in the week when Friday sassed out her creator from not using please as he fired off a dozen different commands to her.

“No Sam, these aren’t as smart as Friday,” Natasha stood up, admitting defeat. “There’s nothing here. Might as well move on to Lubin.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Steve grinned, hoping to cheer her up. They could only take so many dead ends before it started to get to them.

The sound of a battle caught the attention of the trio as they walked to where they parked the quinjet. The sounds of metal on metal. Unrhythmic clanking. They looked around desperately for the source of the sound.

A sizzling noise followed by a high-pitched squeal.

A girl slammed into the Earth a few metres ahead of them, a small crater evidence of the sheer force she’d hit the ground with as dust and dirt blew up into their path. She groaned, her arms moving painfully as she got back up. There was a roar as the blonde shot back into the sky.

Falcon blinked, stunned by what he just witnessed. “Dat’s new.”

“Come on.” Steve grimaced, racing forward to follow the woman.

They didn’t make it far before the thick trees gave way to a large, almost picturesque clearing had it not been for the large metal monster trying to attack the blonde.

“What is that thing?” Sam breathed, shocked by the immense size of the machine.

The blonde from earlier suddenly appeared in front of him. “Borrowing this.” She snatched Cap’s shield, tossing it with such force she’d managed to embed the shield into the machine’s torso region. The blonde dove towards it, kicking it in further.

Her attacks served only annoyed the machine as it threw her hard into the ground again. But as she got back up again, her eyes lit up. Blue-hot laser beams fired from her eyes onto the metal monster’s head. It melted under the heat, the wires and electrical circuits controlling it frying and short-circuiting in a show of sparks. Pulling out the shield, she separated its molten head from the body.

In the tree line, Cap gestured for the trio to go investigate, deeming it safe.

“You all right?” He asked her, taking back his shield.

“Yeah,” the blonde waved them off, hands on her hips. She breathed a little heavily as parts of her red dress began to shimmer. Heaving a sigh of relief, she murmured quietly, “that’s better.”

“What is this thing?”

“A shoddy rip-off of the Iron Monger.” The blonde answered wearily, clearly worn out by the fight against the mech. “Hydra made it. I dealt with something like this, about a month ago. I took out the facility where they were making them last week and destroyed the files. Seems that, they’ve made another to stop me.” She explained with a shrug, toeing the large robot with her red ballet shoe. “Don’t worry, I sent the files to Miss. Potts along with the likely cause of the leak.”

“Why is Hydra trying to stop you?” Natasha questioned, filing away as much as she could about the mysterious flying girl.

The blonde pulled a face, gesturing to the machine behind her. “I’m trying to stop Hydra while they’re trying to stop me from finding the Asset so I stop them from creating more Assets so that they can try and stop S.W.O.R.D. and it just goes on and on and I really need a nap.” The blonde sighed dramatically before brightening up again. “Speaking off, I have a Winter Soldier to track.” She was gone before they could ask any more.

The trio exchanged a worried glance. Who was she? And why was she after Bucky?

“Who was that?” Sam asked Natasha, hoping the former S.H.I.E.L.D. and KGB agent might know something.

“I don’t know.” The Black Widow admitted softly, her eyes wide as she realised that they’d blundered into something much bigger. “But I do know of S.W.O.R.D.” She gestured for them to return to the quinjet, desperate to keep moving. “S.W.O.R.D. is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s sister organisation. Started in the late seventies. A lot more hushed, a lot more powerful. Nothing about them was leaked after S.H.I.E.L.D. went down, however. I think they absorbed a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s staff too. I know Maria is there now. She’s taken over as Deputy Director, handling all the day to day operations.”

“So, blondie’s an agent of S.W.O.R.D.?” Sam frowned, trying to understand the situation. “Then why is S.W.O.R.D. after Bucky?”

“I don’t know Sam.” Nat snapped as she walked over to the quinjet’s communications screen.

Stark’s face quickly filled the screen. “What up Three Musketeers? Bucky-boo got away?”

“Had any Hydra infiltrations lately?” Romanoff jumped straight to the point.

“Fired a guy about a week before we received the reports. Then fired that whole department. Well, Pepper did anyway.” He shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

Natasha rose an eyebrow. “We just watched a blonde in a cape melt something that looked a lot like the Iron Monger.”

“And that’s a problem?” Tony frowned, wondering how they’d gotten along with her. She never liked the Avengers, turning down Stark’s multiple requests to join them. “Miss. America’s just doing her job so she can bitch about to me later about the paperwork.”

Natasha latched on to the information, finally able to put a name to a face she’d only ever heard rumours about. “So that was Miss. America?”

“Germany’s Miss. America, probably. Was she yay-ish tall, blue eyes, wearing a red dress with an A-star, blue cape, and ballet shoes?” The trio nodded. “Then that’d be her. Far more stylish than the other Captains.”

“She’s looking for Bucky, Tony,” Steve interjected, speaking softly. His face was lined with fear, concerned over what this Miss. America wanted from his best friend. Was she a bad guy?

Tony rubbed his face, pulling off his glasses as he carefully stated, “I’m sure she has her reasons. Probably a S.W.O.R.D. assignment, I wouldn’t know. I don’t really know a lot about her.”

“Anything you can give us here Stark?” Falcon asked, the uncertainty of the situation freaking him out. He hated being unprepared.

Tony shrugged. “She has that same unwavering sense of moral righteousness as that drives me nuts. Stay out of her way, and she’ll stay out of yours. Known her for over a decade and still don’t understand her.”

The trio of Avengers just nodded as Stark continued. “I also took a look at the recordings you sent me from the Hydra bases. I couldn’t decrypt the writing, so I passed it on to some other sources of mine. All we’ve been able to deduce is that its alien in origin. Which might explain the angel part.”

“Which is?”

“Das… the little blue girl. She’s a girl that kept popping up for about a decade. Kept screwing with Winter Soldier’s programming every time he saw her. No one knows who she is. Just that she was always wearing a blue dress.”

“A literal child is what it takes to screw with the Winter Soldier?” Sam asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Man, that’s messed up.”

“Especially if she isn’t human.”

“Alright. Thank you, Tony.” Natasha cut off the communication, the screen turning to black they regrouped. “What’d ya say Cap? Do we trust her?”

He hesitated. He didn’t want to make a judgement based on a five second encounter and Stark’s rather conflicting account. “For now, no. I’d rather play it safe, but make her feel safe with us too. At least until we know more.” She knew how to use his shield. That had to mean something. No one knew how to properly throw his shield, something he himself had learned just by throwing it. Yet she had tossed it with a grace he’d only seen himself do. And the force. She had to be incredibly strong, yet she appeared so unassuming in size.

“I have so many questions,” Sam admitted as he and Natasha moved up to the pilot’s seat.

“I don’t think we’ll be getting any answers soon, but we might as well check Lubin.” Natasha shrugged, sighing as she started up the jet.

## ***

Steve had split from Natasha and Sam not long after they’d arrived in the Polish city, hoping to cover more of the city before nightfall. It was already mid-afternoon. Walking into a large square, something caught the Captain’s eye.

A blonde girl sat by the central fountain, the blue beanie on her head matching her woollen scarf. A red ballet shoe was visible behind the shield resting against her legs.

It was exactly like the one strapped to Cap’s back.

But it was wrong. The star was whiter, cleaner. The outer rings were blue, the centre circle red. The worn and battered shield had seen many battles, yet it shone with meticulous care.

Steve moved closer, weary as the blonde looked up. She was wearing glasses similar to the pair Nat had given him when they’d gone incognito.

Pushing the glasses up her nose, she nodded politely at him. “Captain Rogers.” She set the book aside as she made space on the bench.

“Miss. America.”

The corner of her lips tugged upwards, a playful expression flashing across her eyes.

“At your service.” She nodded again, but this time it was more of a bow. “Please, do sit. Lubin is a good place to watch the world go by.” Miss. America’s eyes wandered around the square, watching as people went about their day as she did hers.

Steve took his shield off, allowing it to rest beside hers. “What are you reading?”

“A German translation of A Rose for the ANZAC Boys.” She explained, passing the book over. “An interesting read.”

“If you understand German,” Steve stated dryly, not understanding the words but somewhat understanding the story from the title alone. “You like history?”

“It’s a fascinating place.” Miss. America answered, fiddling with the sleeve of her red costume. “There is great wisdom in the past, for one cannot experience everything in their own lifetime.”

Cap smiled, intrigued by her answer. “Can only try.”

“As we all do, Captain.” She nodded, her eyes wandering the square again. Steve took the opportunity to better examine her shield. He could see each and every nick and dent in the metal and the repairs done over the years. There was a layer of wax on top of the paint, allowing it to shine brightly in the afternoon sun.

“It’s vibranium. Polished with a Japanese bamboo floor wax. Only thing that’ll stick.” She smiled at that, her eyes not leaving a nearby building as her finger caressed the shield’s rim. “Captain America polishes it almost every day.”

“Captain America?” Steve rose an eyebrow, wondering where she was going.

“Captain William Nasland. Fought in the Vietnam War. He was a super-soldier, one of the nine survivors of Project: Revival and one of the seven members of the Roaring Commandos. He and Isaiah Bradley were the only ones to survive the war.” Her voice softened, a lingering sadness creeping onto her face. “Even then Bradley died just a few months later of suicide. Bill polishes this shield every day in memory of those men.”

Steve ears buzzed with this information. No one had ever told him about a Project: Revival, or another Captain America, or of the Roaring Commandos, or of the hero who’d taken his own life. That shield, it was wrong not because it was a replica of his own, but because it belonged to a different Captain America. Someone who’d fought the same fight he had, and lost just as much.

“I… I didn’t know,” Steve admitted, feeling ashamed of not knowing of his successor’s existence.

“No one does, Captain.” She told him gently. “There are many things they did not tell you, because they themselves do not know. Project: Revival was considered a failure, in the eyes of the U.S. military. Captain Nasland turned on the government the moment Sargent Bradley died. He changed his name, the Spirit of ’79, and returned to the home they stole him from. Captain America, is Filipino.”

Cap stayed quiet, processing the information sadly as he learned more of his successor. He wondered how he was doing. How he had managed to keep going, in the face of such adversity. Probably the way he did, by putting one foot in front of the other. A silence lapsed between them as they watched people move about the open square. It was comfortable. Steve, strangely, felt comfortable beside the heroine. He still had his doubts about her and her intentions towards Bucky. But if his successor had trusted her with his shield, then he had to have faith in her too.

Five minutes later, she broke their comfortable silence. “Sharing tinvaak with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights.” She looked over to where a group of people were chatting eagerly. “It is one of humanity’s defining qualities, their interconnected… interdependent existence. One must share tinvaak to survive.”

“What is tinvaak?”

“Chatter of the idle kind.” Miss. America replied after a moment as Steve briefly wondered what language the word came from. “Passing greetings, warm smiles or a simple wave. Through these actions, the world you live in grows, and more and more people become a part of your life. If only, for just a moment.”

She pulled her glasses off, wrapping them and her beanie inside the scarf as she picked up Captain America II’s shield. “But only, for a moment.”

No sooner did the words leave her mouth, did a man entered the square. He wore several jackets over a red henley shirt; his greasy black hair hidden under a hat. His hands were shoved into his jacket pockets as he looked around the square suspiciously.

It was Bucky.

Steve could only stare as the blonde walked easily up to him, cape flowing in the gentle breeze as the shield hung almost loosely beside her. What surprised him most, was the recognition in Buck’s eyes. He knew her. He smiled at her. He spoke to her. Cap felt like he was disturbing their moment, staring intensively at the pair the way he did.

But their reunion was spoiled as Miss. America threw up her shield to deflect gunshots. Hydra agents poured into the square; their intentions clear. They were after Bucky too. Steve jumped up, tossing his own shield towards the agents closest to the pair as he raced to their aid.

“Gehen!” Miss. America screamed to Bucky, throwing the shield effortlessly to fend off the agents. “Verschwinde hier, mein Engel! Gehen!” The pair were back to back, fighting as a unit.

At her words, Bucky ran; disappearing in a cloud of smoke as the blonde’s eyes lit up as her twin beams stuck the agents chasing him. The shield returned to her as she fought off the remaining agents. It was surreal, to see Bucky so easily respond to her, and to trust her to protect him.

Fighting side by side, Steve found she worked easily with him too. She seemed to know which agent he would strike, striking another as she gracefully bounced around. The lasers coming from her eyes were hot, but not as hot the scorching heat she had used against the machine. Not hot enough to kill as she screamed at the agents.

No sooner did the fight start did it finish.

Miss. America grabbed the sole agent still conscious, her grip tight around his throat as she spoke rapidly to him in German. He spat at her, talking back as he bit on a cyanide tooth. Foam filled his mouth as she tossed him to the side like an eaten banana peel.

“Gross.” She wiped her hand on her skirt, clearly disgusted at the agent as she mumbled a few choice words. Her whole body was shaking as she looked around at the carnage. There was no remorse about her, just a quiet resignation as she took in the scene. Steve himself looked around for Bucky, but it seemed he had disappeared like Miss. America had told him to. He was gone. Again.

More armed people stormed the square, but Miss. America made no move to attack. Instead, she relaxed; moving to speak to one of them. They must be the police.

She waved him over, introducing him to the officer she was speaking to. “Captain Rogers, this is Senior Sergeant Rafał Karpiak.”

The man nodded, shaking Steve's hand. “Thank you. Your help is very appreciated.” Sergeant Karpiak thanked him again in broken English.

“Anytime.” Cap nodded back, looking quizzically at Miss. America. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Paperwork,” she replied blankly, eyes dead at the thought as she spoke to the Senior Sargent.

It was then that Natasha and Sam appeared at the opposite end of the square, trying to wave him over. Steve gently placed a hand on Miss. America’s arm. “I have to go.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll come to find you.” She nodded her gratitude. “And thanks again. Bucky is safe now.”

Bucky.

She called him Bucky.

Cap just nodded again, moving across the square to his friends.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked as she checked Steve over. “We heard the commotion, what happened?”

“I’m fine.” He pushed her off, the knot in his stomach tightening as he sighed deeply. “It was Hydra. They’re after Bucky too. Miss. America and I fought them off.”

“So, she’s on our side?” Natasha questioned impatiently.

Steve’s eyes wouldn’t leave the heroine in the square. She had been joined by people in different uniforms, including a man in a suit. “She called him Bucky. She knows him.” He stated, remembering the intimate interaction between the pair. “She saved him. She’s on our side.” He answered definably.

“Hold on. Is that your shield?” Sam frowned, pointing out the shield resting on the girl’s arm. A worn leather strap held it there, Steve remembered. Like his used to before Stark upgraded it with the magnets.

“It’s Captain Nasland’s.” He answered sadly.

“Who?”

Cap looked down at his friend. “Captain America.” He didn’t offer any more answers, hoping Sam would drop the topic. He didn’t want to think about the man whom history seemed to have forgotten.

The trio watched the scene as the bodies were cleaned up. A few moments passed before Miss. America made her way over to them. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted Natasha.

“She no like you.” Sam giggled into his friend’s ear, only to have her shove him away.

The blonde simply rose an eyebrow, indicating that she had heard him. “So? What are the Avengers doing in Lubin?” She inquired, her shoulder’s sagging slightly as she asked, “please tell me Stark isn’t here, I have no wish to deal with that much paperwork on top of all...” She gestured to the carnage in the square being dealt with by the police and other uniformed agents. “…this.”

“We are looking for Bucky,” Steve answered openly. She had called him Bucky; it’d made no sense to try and hide their intentions behind formalities. Miss. America just nodded at his words, staring almost judgementally at the trio of Avengers.

Natasha took her silence as an opportunity to question her. “Why are you looking for him?” She asked quickly, earning a second eyebrow raise from the blonde.

“S.W.O.R.D.” She answered simply. “I was assigned to bring the Asset in.”

“What does S.W.O.R.D. want from him?” Sam asked next, earning a hard glare from Miss. America.

She looked between the trio, assessing them intently. She sighed, relenting herself as she explained, “S.W.O.R.D. recently intercepted a man named Helmut Zemo. He was a former Sokovian Colonel,” Miss. America answered succinctly, “he had plans, among various others, to capture the Asset and use him to reactive more. Only he knows where these other soldiers are. S.W.O.R.D. assigned me the task of tracking down Sargent Barnes. We believe that he may know more about these additional Assets.” There was a pause, something about her softening. “S.W.O.R.D. has no intention of bringing harm to Sargent Barnes. We simply need to…” She bit her lip, shifting slightly. “I don’t want to say we’d have to eliminate these soldiers, but we do have that authorisation. Barnes however is a free man, I know. S.W.O.R.D. just wants these soldiers… neutralised. The threat they possess is, significant.”

“There are more Winter Soldiers?” Sam asked, shocked that there were more.

Miss. America hesitated. “Barnes was the only successful outcome of the Winter Soldier program. Unfortunately, or fortunately…” she pulled a face, “what was supposed to be the new fist of Hydra became its only fist.”

“What happened to the other soldiers?”

“There was a resurgence in the program in the late seventies, growing concerns about the vitality of the only current Asset lead them to inject several more. They all quickly became unstable and attacked their Hydra guards. They were put into cryostasis and the program has only been reactivated once more.”

“What happened to that program?”

“It failed.” Miss. America answered darkly, her tone clear that she was done with the questioning. “My turn.” She zeroed in on Steve, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Sargent Barnes can’t remember anything, so why… bother?” Her question wasn’t a harsh one, a sensible one really; but it stung all the same.

How did one explain the connection between the pair? Then it hit him. “He remembered you,” Steve recalled. The heroine rose her eyebrows again, clearly not satisfied with his answer. “He once promised me he’d be there for me until the end of the line,” he remembered how he’d repeated those same words back to Bucky on the helicarrier, causing the brainwashed assassin to think twice about killing him. “I followed him into a war zone, he followed me into battle after battle and fell off a train. Instead of looking for him, I believed he was dead and crashed a plane into the Arctic. I just want try and make up for those lost years.”

“The great yellow sun rises in the east only to set in the west, Captain.” Her brows furrowed slightly at the confusing analogy. “I’m certain your friend isn’t the one you are looking for.”

Cap shook his head, not wanting to give up. “I’m not exactly the same man either. He is still my friend.”

“Of course, Captain.” She nodded politely. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have an Asset to track.”

“Wait!” Natasha stopped her, not yet finished with the blonde. “How does Bucky know you?”

“He doesn’t,” Miss. America snapped. “He recognised the shield. He said it was a lie.” Steve knew better, he saw the way they’d worked together. The trust he had in her… “He left because Hydra came. I almost had him, and then my job just got harder.” She placed her hands on her hips, her cape fanning out behind her dramatically.

“So, if you’re looking for Bucky, and we’re looking for Bucky.” Sam frowned, the cogs in his brain ticking. “Why don’t we look for him together.”

“Because I don’t want to do that much paperwork?” Miss. America tossed her hands up into the air. “Because I’m simply trying to do my job? Maybe it will be easier to team up. Maybe I just don’t want to.”

Cap decided to intervene, knowing his friends weren’t getting through to the blonde. “We’re looking for Buck too. It’ll make it a lot easier for S.W.O.R.D. to have someone who knows him personally trying to get him back. I don’t like the idea of there being more Winter Soldiers. Let us help you.”

Miss. America closed her eyes, sighing noisily before pulling out her phone. “Agent van der Vegte, shit’s hit the fan.” She greeted the person on the other end. “Hydra showed up, want their pet back. Yeah, my worst nightmares too. No, just spangles, Red’s mum and Bird-Man.”

“Bird-Man?” Sam protested at the same time Natasha asked, “Red’s mum?”

The blonde rose a teasing eyebrow. “Nope. Just trying to make my life more difficult. Yeah. That’s what she said.” She groaned, looking ready to toss the device across the square. “Yeah, whatever. Hey Britt. Of course. Yeah, I’ll send in an update later tonight with whatever I can glean from the files. Good riddance.” She drew out the last word mockingly as she hung up. Eyeing the trio of Avengers, she nodded. “Boss said I have the go ahead. Told me to do what needed to be done to get Sargent Barnes back, as long as it can be justified in the paperwork.”

“So, we’re on the same page?” Steve asked.

“Page 394?” Miss. America asked with a giggle as Natasha snorted. The blonde held out a hand. “Lead the way. I’m assuming you have a quinjet around here somewhere?”

“How’d can you tell?” Sam asked joking as they began to walk through Lubin.

“Because. I saw it as I was fighting the mech.” She pulled a face. “They’re not exactly the easiest things to hide.”

## ***

“Do you have a safe house out here or something?” Natasha as the blonde landed the quinjet in a clearing.

The blonde shrugged. “It's not really a safe house, as you would call it. But it is safe, and it is a house.” She exited quickly, moving towards the buildings at the other end. The farmhouse was large, three stories at its tallest and surrounded by even taller trees. The place was breathtaking. “You are welcome here until we find Sergeant Barnes.” Miss. America nodded politely, leading them inside.

The main room was bright and airy, two stories high with large bay windows. An open kitchen sat on one side beside a simplistic dining area. On the other end was a staircase leading up to another living area that overlooked the great room. But the thing that caught all their eyes was a shield hanging on the central hearth, above a collection of family photos and portraits. The shield was embossed with the same symbol on the heroine's chest, gleaming in the soft lighting.

“Is that yours?” Sam asked, shocked to see yet another shield so alike to his best friend's.

“It was a gift.” Miss. America explained as she lent Captain America II’s shield against the hearth. “We all have one, even if we don't all use them.”

“You don't use it?” Steve frowned curiously, wondering who the others that she referred to were.

The girl simply shook her head, watching as Natasha scrutinised every inch of the building. She inspected the photos closely, finally finding a name to put to the face. “You're Madeline Joyce?”

“Yup. She be me.” Madeline nodded. But there were no baby photos of the girl, only of the three boys and Natasha didn't hesitate to point that out. “I was adopted when I was ten. I needed a home, and they gave me that.”

“Where from?” It seemed the Black Widow was primed for an interrogation that Miss. America was defiantly ready for.

“Holland.”

“How?”

Madeline remained quiet, moving into the kitchen as she avoided the question. “I hope you are hungry. I ordered enough Chinese to feed a large army. It’ll get here in about ten minutes.”

“That’ll be pretty good actually.” Steve was shocked by her hospitality as Madeline began moving around the kitchen, preparing the food. The trio sat down at the kitchen island as the blonde passed them glasses of water.

“So you’re like, Tony Stark but without the brains?” Sam noted, looking up at the photos. Madeline was a socialite, often seen on German’s social scene doing many things.

The blonde in question snorted. “Correction. Stark is me without the common sense.”

“Sounds about right,” Natasha giggled, agreeing with her over Stark’s lack of wisdom, informing the blonde of their joke earlier. Like Cap, she wasn’t as amused as they were.

The food arrived shortly after that, the four of them digging in eagerly to the variety of dishes.

“So, what exactly is your game plan?” Miss. America asked as she pushed her plate aside, feeling stuffed as a Christmas chicken.

“Find Bucky?” Falcon stated. “Kick some Hydra ass. I think that was it, right Nat?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You make it sound so simple. But yes. I was informed that Bucky had been seen here in Poland, so we came here to find him. Honestly, we’re just trying to find him.”

“And not Hydra?”

“Well, Hydra’s just part of the parcel,” Sam admitted.

Madeline nodded, pulling a file out from under the counter. “My official mission was also just to track down Barnes. The mech was a side encounter from a previous assignment.” She explained, scrawling something down on the report. “Our sources also pointed to Poland. Facial recognition isn’t picking a lot up, but we’re trying. It could be a few days before we pick up on him again. In the meantime, I do know of one of his previous holding facilities.” She pulled out a small map of the German countryside, highlighting its location with her finger. “This is a very early base, but if we can destroy it then that’ll probably inhibit their ability to reactivate these other soldiers. We still don’t know where they are, although our best guess is Russia, considering it was the Soviets who tried to reboot the program. Another source has suggested Siberia.” She looked to Natasha, hoping the former KGB agent might be able to shed some light on the situation.

She frowned as she tried to remember. “I wouldn’t know. The Red Room had its headquarters in Moscow, with other facilities scattered around nearby. They only had the one training facility in Siberia.”

“Is the facility still in use?” The blonde asked, writing down Natasha’s statement.

“I don’t think so.”

“All right. I’ll ask van de Vegte to investigate further.” She turned to Steve next, biting her lip as she tried to properly phrase her question. “During the war, were there any locations that might have some significance to Barnes?”

Steve hesitated, not knowing what would hold significance. Most of their time was spent in the countryside taking down Hydra bases. “I, I don’t know. Do you have a map, I could show you some of the places we’ve attacked?” Madeline nodded, exiting the room briefly before returning with a larger map of Europe. “Umm, here.” Steve pointed out a French town. “We spent a night there. Just after we destroyed a base. Hid in the basement of the inn. Helped the owner drink the rum. Maybe that or over here.” Cap walked her through three more locations, highlighting their significance as she recorded it all meticulously. “That’s about it.”

“That’s plenty, thank you. I’ll send these along and have someone look into them.” She gathered the files back up, placing them to the side.

“Sooner we find Bucky, the better,” Cap agreed, placing his elbows on the bench.

Steve picked up a photograph from a side table. Nat and Sam had retired for the night, leaving Cap to help Madeline with the few dishes left. Now he was just pottering around as Madeline was working on some files they’d recovered. A small group of people, six in total, all smiling brightly in different coloured costumes as they held up their own shields for the camera. He made out Madeline’s, as well as an Asian man with two see-through ones that glowed. There was a bliss to the image, a carefree peace. He looked over to where Madeline sat at the kitchen island pouring over the Hydra records and wondered how often she got to experience that. He didn't often, hadn't since he woke up in hospital after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.

He brought the photograph over to her. “Who are these people?”

Madeline looked up in surprise, adjusting her glasses as she took the frame from him. “Oh, this is my team. We're the Captains.” She smiled, her first genuine smile since Steve had first found her fighting the mech in the clearing. “Been a while since we last met up,” her face fell as she admitted, “it's probably a good thing. We have a tendency to get drunk and sing sea shanties.” She turned back to the files.

Steve lost himself in the photograph. It got to him in a way he didn't understand. Was it because these people were called Captains? Or was it the shields that shared a resemblance to his own? Or was it the blissful moment captured in time. He stood up, shuffling to return the photo when another struck him. Five people, this time. The man in the middle looked so much like him. But it wasn't him. This man was slightly shorter with thick, curly black hair and honey-coloured eyes. His skin was darker. Was that Captain Nasland? In the photo, he was grinning. There was a sense of peace about him as his comrades all laughed together at something. Steve wondered what the joke was. Was it a funny one, or had they just been so wound up that it was simply a release of tension?

There was a hand on his shoulder, Madeline pressing a large, leather-bound book into his hand. It's a photo album. “Noelle and I love taking photos.” She swallowed hard, pointing out the tall Asian girl with a seven-pointed star on her shield. She slipped back up to the island, Steve following with the album.

He stared at its leather cover for a few moments, lost in the simple wording along the top.

_This Adventure of a Lifetime Vol. 3_

Underneath it was the most beautiful quote Steve had seen.

_“I’m not finished. I have to fly one more time…”_

_Captain Beverley Bass_

He couldn’t turn past it, struck by the reality of the blonde before him. She could fly! And she didn’t want to stop. Could the same not apply to her bring a superhero? Or a historian or whatever else she did?

It was Madeline herself that opened it up, pointing out a newspaper article dated to mid-2005.

_Captain Britain saves London from terrorist bombing._

There were several more, each reporting the first appearances of the Captains.

Maddie's own dated 2007.

_Flying heroine saves bridge collapse._ It bore no title for the new heroine, for that would come years later at the formation of the All-Winners Squad. That team only lasted two months, when Bucky Jr. was killed and the Human Torch destroyed by the government.

There were several articles about a hero called the Whizzer, and a few relating to Colonel America and Commander A. There was a Ballistique too, the tall Asian girl literally bursting onto the scene in 2009. The most recent to join was Free Spirit at the very beginning of 2013. Steve flipped through the book, taking in the different sets of photographs. They were all captioned with different phrases, song lyrics, as Madeline pointed out. He didn’t understand them, some felt whimsical, many almost worrying as he paused on a just a few pages in.

There were a series of photographs of a boy, no more than twenty.

_Fred Davis Jr._

_“Bucky Jr.”_

_“It's been a long day without you, my friend._

_And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.”_

_21.10.1990 – 12.01.2010_

“He died in a building collapse.” Madeline piped up, her pencil shaking slightly as she recalled that dark day. “Crushed his spine, smashed his skull under twenty floors of concrete.” A single tear landed on the page as she hastily tried to cover it up.

“He was called Bucky?” Steve stated, wondering why.

“After Sargent Barnes, his great uncle.” The heroine bit his lip, her eyes meeting his. “He was Rachel’s grandson.”

Rachel. Bucky’s elder sister.

“I’m so sorry.” Cap tried. She simply nodded, returning to the paperwork.

The next page was a single sketch, lifelike as a man’s face came to life on the page. Steve recognised the accompanying song. It was from the movie he’d watched with Natasha just the other night: Sleeping Beauty. Steve had marvelled at the art of the film, as impressed with the animation as he was with newer movies. He had no idea who the man was; but he was smiling, a distant look in his eyes as he stared off to the side. Down the bottom was a series of squiggles. The same squiggles they’d encountered at the Hydra bases. He kept quiet, wondering what they meant.

He turned the page, silently journeying through the blonde’s life through the pages. He noticed some of the lyrics were also in the squiggles. About halfway through the thick book, he paused on a page.

A single photograph sat in the middle, a stunning image of the night sky. The galaxy was bright overhead.

_You walk a lonely road_

_Oh, how far you are from home._

Steve frowned at the attached lyric as he wondered exactly what the words meant. Glancing over, he saw Madeline was frowning over some of the files, quickly searching for another sheet of paper.

“Have you found something?” Cap asked as she hummed in affirmation.

“Tala, get me Director Brand on the line. This is really, really bad.”

“I cannot reach Director Brand,” A voice replied after a moment, feminine with a smooth German accent similar to Madeline’s. “Would you like me to try for one of the other Big Wigs?”

“Any of them. Please.”

There was a click as the line connected. “Miss. America?” A smooth masculine voice asked. It sounded like soft butter sliding onto warm toast to Steve’s ears.

“Director Xiaru, is a General Aleksander Lukin a listed threat?” Madeline jumped straight to the point. “Because all I can find in the database are declassified Soviet files and this guy should be deader than the Spirit of ’79 could ever be.”

“_Lukin was mentioned by Colonel Zemo when we brought him in. Seems he’s in charge of the attempts to reactivate the other soldiers. Under Madame Hydra, of course. Yes, he is listed as a code red threat._” Steve blinked, not understanding the ranking as Madeline nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, well you might want to offer him the free upgrade. Because from what I’ve got he’s much worse than that. Ties to both the Red Room and Hydra. Inherited the Asset from General Karpov in the seventies and has been the one calling the kills for since then with both the Soviets and Hydra, Xiaru. This guy is **not** good news.”

“_All right Madeline. Send along the files you’ve recovered, and I’ll have a team start looking into it immediately. If needed, I’ll assign Captain Britain and or Colonel America to the case. Your focus remains on locating Sargent Barnes. His safety is our top priority._”

Madeline sighed as she answered quietly. “Of course, Director. I’ll keep you posted.”

“_Please_.”

The call ended with a click as Madeline slammed her head into the kitchen island. She groaned loudly in frustration.

Steve closed the scrapbook, turning his attention to the heroine. “Who is General Lukin?” She handed him one of her files, not even flinching.

The General looked like he could be twelve or thirty, Steve didn’t know. But Lukin was not only in charge of the Red Room and a higher up of the KGB, but also very high up within Hydra as well. And the one in charge of the Winter Soldier until he escaped. Higher than even Secretary Pierce. “So, he’s the one behind the Winter Soldiers?”

“Yes. He’ll probably be the next focus of our efforts after we find Bucky.” Madeline explained, rapping her fingers against the granite countertop. She looked up at him curiously. “What do you know about superheroes? Like, now. How many have you met?”

“The Avengers. Agent 13? Daredevil?” Cap answered, frowning at her question. Where was she going with this?

Maddie nodded, biting her lip as she hesitated. “That’s it?” She grabbed another file, tossing it to him. “There was an idea,” she quoted darkly, “called the Avengers Initiative. To bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles we never could.” Madeline folded her arms, placing them on the bench as she continued slowly. “There is a world outside your window. And it’s a world of dread and fear. There are people who want to make this world a better place, and there are people who want power and control. General Lukin is the latter; you and I, the former. At the end of the day, it’s people like you and I who are the last line of defence against people like General Lukin.”

“Just you and I?” Steve rose an eyebrow, beginning to see where the blonde was going.

“Power to the people, Captain.” She stood up, yawning dramatically. “We have an early start tomorrow. Should probably get some sleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> AN:  
So. Here we are. This, the first part of a series I am having so much fun creating. Honestly, I am having a blast even as I bash my head against my computer hoping it’ll just spit words out into this author’s note. But yeah. Stick around, Captain America II shows up in the next chapter, as do some other old friends. Well… not really old friends more like old enemies. Kick some Hydra ass.  
Feel free to ask me any questions about this series either here or on my tumblr. I’m tossing up between calling it “This Adventure of a Lifetime” or something else, give me your thoughts. Or you could just come say hi. Please do. I’ma so lonely... and tired. Goodnight.


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